Updated: 2023-06-10 06:59:00 EDT


Purpose

This webpage/report is intended to aggregate information from different agencies (i.e. USACE, SFWMD, FWC, USGS and NOAA) into one spot to help inform local government agencies and stakeholders on conditions within Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary and Coastal southwest Florida. The data provided here should be considered preliminary and are subject to change.


USACE Data Summary

Daily discharge volume in Acre-Feet per day for the last 14-days. Data Source: USACE

Date

S77

S78

S79

S310

S351

S352

S354

L8

S308

S80

NthLake 1

WCA1

WCA2

WCA3

ENP 2

06-09

0

3981

7426

14

0

0

0

16

0

515

2267

1607

1563

1244

1,551.074

06-08

0

3998

7395

-8

0

0

0

-101

0

37

1692

1511

1712

1373

1,799.007

06-07

0

3911

7749

-95

0

0

0

-127

0

36

2733

2120

1811

1607

1,795.040

06-06

0

4452

7454

-237

0

0

0

-226

0

49

3592

2164

1492

1674

1,509.421

06-05

0

4582

8825

-285

0

0

0

-426

0

35

3907

2342

1073

1037

1,243.636

06-04

0

3806

5861

-392

0

0

0

-395

0

39

3412

2592

1029

1061

1,233.718

06-03

0

5180

7666

-457

0

0

0

-198

0

42

1351

2214

899

1006

1,267.437

06-02

0

4207

5689

-460

0

0

0

-103

0

50

982

2015

708

857

1,443.966

06-01

2614

3298

5821

-350

0

0

0

-52

0

44

756

1652

528

367

1,644.297

05-31

3431

3600

4886

-101

0

0

0

-44

0

525

682

1638

270

706

1,505.454

05-30

1843

3101

4601

-117

0

0

0

-202

0

48

815

1559

266

1021

1,330.908

05-29

95

1874

3092

-63

0

0

0

-226

0

904

1287

1970

-40

837

1,275.371

05-28

228

1972

3224

-268

0

0

0

-216

0

46

2162

1531

-272

1248

1,267.437

1 Includes discharges from Fisheating Creek, S71, S72, S84, S84X, S65E, and S65EX1

2 Estimated as S12s+(S333+S333N)-S356. If no data is present (i.e. -NR-) either S12s, S333s or S356 data is not available.

Average and total net discharge volume in Acre-Feet per day for the last 7-days. Data Source: USACE

Statistic

S77

S78

S79

S310

S351

S352

S354

L8

S308

S80

NthLake

WCA1

WCA2

WCA3

ENP

Average

0

4273

7482

-209

0

0

0

-208

0

108

2708

2079

1368

1286

1,485.619

Total

0

29910

52376

-1460

0

0

0

-1458

0

753

18954

14551

9578

9001

10,399.333

Average and total net discharge volume in Acre-Feet per day for the last 14-days. Data Source: USACE

Statistic

S77

S78

S79

S310

S351

S352

S354

L8

S308

S80

NthLake

WCA1

WCA2

WCA3

ENP

Average

632

3689

6130

-217

0

0

0

-177

0

182

1972

1917

849

1080

1,451.29

Total

8212

47962

79689

-2819

0

0

0

-2301

0

2370

25638

24916

11038

14037

18,866.77

Caloosahatchee Conditions Summary: Flow to the Caloosahatchee Estuary had a 7-day average of 3,772 cfs at S-79 with a 7-day average of 0 cfs (0%) coming from the lake at S-77. The 14-day moving average flow at S-79 is 2,953 cfs and has been in the damaging flow envelope (> 2600 cfs; RECOVER 2020) for 4 days.

Lake Flows: In the past 7 days the total outflow from Lake Okeechobee was 30 AF with 0 AF to the Caloosahatchee through S-77, 14 AF through S-310 in Clewiston, and 0 AF to the EAA through S-351, S-352, and S-354. The total net inflow to the Lake was 21,902 AF (18,954 AF from Fisheating Creek, S-71, S-72, S-84s, S-65EX, and S-65EX1) with a total backflow volume of 2,948 AF from S310 and C10A. Water conservation areas received flows of 14,551 AF, 9,578 AF, and 9,001 AF at WCA1, WCA2, and WCA3, respectively. Everglades National Park received 10,399 AF.


Lake Okeechobee Level: 14.02 ft (Operational Management Band)

Lake Okeechobee Inflow: 1253 cfs

Last Week: 13.94 ft

Lake Okeechobee Outflow: 0 cfs

Weekly Rainfall Total:

WP Franklin ≥ 0.43”

Ortona ≥ 3.20”

Moore Haven ≥ 1.04”


Lake Okeechobee


Stage Elevation

Lake Okeechobee daily average stage elevation for water year 2024 (WY2024) relative to the last two water years (red line) relative to the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS) .

Data are provisional and subject to change.


Stage and recession rates this time for the current and last three water years

Date
(Month-Day)

Water Year

Stage
(ft, NGVD29)

7-Day Recession Rate
(ft 7-d⁻¹)

30-Day Recession Rate
(ft 30-d⁻¹) B

06-09

2021

12.10

0.62

0.90

06-09

2022

12.65

-0.13

-1.06

06-09

2023

12.78

0.19

-0.03

06-09

2024

14.01 A

0.07

-0.05

A Value estimated from average stage height across L001, L005, L006, LZ40, S133TW, S352HW & S4TW

B -0.5 ft 30-d⁻¹ maximum 30-day Recession Rate for HAB Deviation

  • As of 06/09/2023 the mean stage elevation in Lake Okeechobee is within the Operational Low Sub- Management Band at a stage elevation of 14.01 feet (NGVD29).

Lake Okeechobee 7-day and 30-day water level recession/ascension rates during WY2024. Negative values indicate falling water levels (recession) and positive values indicate raising water level (ascension) during this 7-day period .

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Lake Okeechobee 7-day water level recession/ascension rates stop-light metric relative to the draft Snail Kite Performance Measure.

Data are provisional and subject to change.


Regional Rainfall

Weekly (06/03 - 06/09) rainfall totals along the Caloosahatchee River

Mointoring Location 1

Weekly
Rainfall
Total
(inches) 2

S79 (WP Franklin)

0.4

S78 (Ortona)

3.5

S77 (Moore Haven)

1.0

1 Data Source: SFWMD DBHYDRO (DBKEYS 16414,15495,16415) and USACE reports

2 Based on data from 06/03/2023 - 06/09/2023


Relative Algae Condition

Sonde monitoring locations within Lake Okeechobee conducted by SFWMD.


Daily Chlorophyll, Phycocyanin,relative ratio of Phycocyanin (Phyco) relative to Phyco and Chlorophyll (Chl) and Turbidity within Lake Okeechobee monitored by SFWMD. Chlorophyll and Phycocyanin are plotted on log-scale. Thresholds of concern/risk identified for Chlorophyll (20 and 40 μg/L) and Phycocyanin (40 μg/L; Cotterill et al 2019 & Macário et al 2015).

Data are provisional and subject to change.

  • Cotterill et al (2019) Phycocyanin sensors as an early warning system for cyanobacteria blooms concentrations: a case study in the Rotorua lakes. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 53:555–570.
  • Macário et al (2015) New insights towards the establishment of phycocyanin concentration thresholds considering species-specific variability of bloom-forming cyanobacteria. Hydrobiologia 757:155–165.


Weekly mean water quality sonde Chlorophyll and Phycocyanin concentration at monitoring locations across Lake Okeechobee

Site

7-day Mean
Chlorophyll Conc.
(μg L⁻¹) 1

7-day Mean
Phycocyanin Conc.
(μg L⁻¹) 1

Green Algal
Concern Category 2

Blue-green Algae
Concern Category 3

L001

103

5

High Concern

Min. Concern

L005

75

62

High Concern

High Concern

L006

24

Min. Concern

LZ40

8

20

Min. Concern

Min. Concern

POLESOUT1

31

13

Warning

Min. Concern

POLESOUT3

16

24

Min. Concern

Min. Concern

1 Based on data from 06/04/2023 - 06/10/2023

2 Chlorophyll Categories:
Min. Concern: values < 20 μg L⁻¹
Warning: values ≥ 20μg L⁻¹ and <40 μg L⁻¹
High Concern: values ≥ 40 μg L⁻¹

3 Phycocyanin Categories:
Min. Concern: values < 40 μg L⁻¹
High Concern: values ≥ 40 μg L⁻¹

Algae Coverage

Cyanobacteria Index for Lake Okeechobee for 2023-06-09 (Data Source: NOAA NCCOS)

Cyanobacteria Index for Lake Okeechobee for 2023-06-09 (Data Source: NOAA NCCOS)



Average daily windspeed and direction and cyanobacteria algal bloom coverage of Lake Okeechobee. Data from NOAA NCCOS HAB data explorer.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Blue-Green Algae Sampling Results

Blue-green Algae sampling results for the last 30-days for the 10 county area (Lee, Collier, Hendry, Glades, Okeechobee, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe). Data from FDEP Blue-green algae dashboard

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Of the 105 samples collected, cyanobacteria was dominate in 84 samples, 51 samples had toxins present ranging from 0.11 to 50 μg L⁻¹ (does not include non-detects).



Caloosahatchee River Estuary

Discharge

Fort Myers Yacht Basin salinity (SCCF-RECON) and S79 discharge (SFWMD) data for the last six months.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Fort Myers Yacht Basin salinity (SCCF-RECON) and S79 discharge (SFWMD) data for the last last 30 days.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

S-77 (from Lake Okeechobee) and S-79 (to Tidal Basin) flow data along the C-43 and Caloosahatchee River. C-43 Basin Flow was calculated as the difference from S-77 and S-79.

Data are provisional and subject to change.


Daily, 14-day moving average and 30-day moving average discharge for S-79 relative to the Northern Estuaries RECOVER performance measure and the established minimium flows and levels (MFLs) for the recent 6-month period.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Daily, 14-day moving average and 30-day moving average discharge for S-79 relative to the Northern Estuaries RECOVER performance measure and the established minimium flows and levels (MFLs) for the recent 30-day period.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

  • As of Jun 09, discharges conditions are within the NA RECOVER salinity envelope.


Cumulative discharge for S-79 (to Tidal Basin) and S-77 (from Lake Okeechobee) for the last three Florida Water Years (May - April). Day of water year is analogous to day of year with Day 1 = May 1st.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Estuary Salinity

Daily average bottom salinity data for the last 14-days from sampling locations within the tidal Caloosahatchee River Estuary relative to oyster health (Sanibel, Shell Point and Cape Coral) and tape grass (Vallisneria americana) health (Ft. Myers only) conditions.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Red Tide Abundance


Red tide sampling results for the last 30-days from just south of Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys. Data from NOAA HABSOS Program.Data are provisional and subject to change.

Red tide sampling results for the last 30-days from just south of Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys. Data from NOAA HABSOS Program.Data are provisional and subject to change.

Red tide sampling results for the last 30-days from just south of Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys. Data from NOAA HABSOS Program

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Count of samples within each abundance category within the greater Caloosahatchee River Estuary (see grey box on map)

Cell Abundance (Cells L⁻¹)

Number
of
Samples

not present/background (0-1,000)

19

very low (>1,000-10,000)

1

low (>10,000-100,000)

---

medium (>100,000-1,000,000)

---

high (>1,000,000)

---


Chlorophyll fluorescence for coastal southwest Florida for 2023-06-09 (Data Source: NOAA NCCOS)

Chlorophyll fluorescence for coastal southwest Florida for 2023-06-09 (Data Source: NOAA NCCOS)

Red Tide Forecast

Red Tide Prediction and Tracking for coastal Southwest Florida from FWC and USF link.

Upper and lower water column HAB (Red Tide) forecasted trajectories from Ocean Circulation Group at USF.Upper and lower water column HAB (Red Tide) forecasted trajectories from Ocean Circulation Group at USF.

Upper and lower water column HAB (Red Tide) forecasted trajectories from Ocean Circulation Group at USF.

Statewide Gulf of Mexico coastal Red Tide forecast from FWC and USF.

Statewide Gulf of Mexico coastal Red Tide forecast from FWC and USF.


Charlotte Harbor

Discharge

Daily discharge into Charlotte Harbor from major rivers and creeks. Data source: USGS. Grey dashed lines between points indicate a potential data gap with values linearly interpolated.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

 

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